RunnerUp
by AtomicScribble
Summary: What if the Opera Ghost had an apprentice? Come on, he looked like he needed help dropping that giant backdrop! Movie based. [on hiatus]
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Sorry, don't own anything, although I made up Archer, the Timekeeper, and Amanda is...me!

**A note: This isn't my first shot at phanfic, although it's my first publishing. Please r&r!**

Prologue: 

Amanda laid down on her bed with a loud sigh. It was the night of August 5th, which was her 14th birthday. It had been a fun but tiring day, and she was almost ready for bed. She gazed up at the ceiling, letting her iPod's music fill her ears.

_Past the point of no return..._

She looked at her mirror, which looked almost alike to Christine's, except that it wasn't plated with gold and was mounted atop her chest of drawers. Sometimes she imagined the Phantom was gazing at her fondly behind the glass, but then she would remember that she danced crazily in her room when she thought she was alone. _Pfft,_ she thought, _He could see through that._

A quick glance at the clock told her that it was 9:30; she went to bed at 10:00. Amanda stretched, and again looked up at the ceiling.

_Amanda…_

Amanda froze and paused her music in a heartbeat. After not hearing it after a couple of minutes, she shrugged it off and let the music play again.  
_Amanda…_

Amanda now sat up, looking about the room. "Hello?" she asked shakily. If she heard it again, she was going to run out the door screaming.

_AMANDA!_

She whirled around to a corner of the room, where what looked like a 21-year old woman was sitting in her purple beanbag chair. Her lips curled into a smile. "Who…a-are yo-ou?" Amanda stuttered, casting a cold but weak glare at the unexpected visitor. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm the Timekeeper. Since it's your birthday, I've decided to give you a little gift." Amanda shrugged. "Why me?" she asked. The Timekeeper stood up and continued.

"This is hard to understand, but you are _directly _related to Christine Daae, yes, Christine Daae. I know that you are a loyal Erik fan, so…" She pulled out what looked like a small, blue timer. "How about becoming his partner in crime throughout the story from 'Think of Me' to the end of the final scene? You can shorten and lengthen the story how you'd like." Amanda squealed in delight and happily accepted the trinket. The Timekeeper had already set it to the right time, date, and place, so she pressed the blinking red button.

"Where the hell is she?"

Erik paced about his lair, fingering the outfit that she had gotten for her. He heard a snap, a crackle, and a curse behind him. The Phantom whirled around to find a battered girl standing behind him, smoothing out her shirt. She looked up, and smiled with relief. "I think I died and went to heaven," she said, brushing a hair out of her eyes. She looked down at the African skirt and the black, long sleeved, silky shirt that Erik was holding.

"Amanda, hello. I'm guessing the Timekeeper told you what's happening. Here are your clothes that you use to navigate about the Opera House. There is a black bow and eight black arrows that are waiting for you on the bed. Change, then hop into the gondola. " Erik handed her the clothes and smiled. "You are Archer the Huntress, partner in crime, apprentice, and hopefully friend to I, the Opera Ghost."


	2. New Apprentice?

Disclaimer: Don't own POTO or Britney Spears.

New Apprentice:

Carlotta was having a hissy fit, as far as Amanda could tell from the balcony.

She was clothed in the special outfit that Erik had given her, and the Timekeeper (or T.K., as Erik called her) had also added Amanda's elephant-hair bracelet from home. The bow was put in a special black holster across her back, and the arrows were put in another holster that acted as a black belt across her waist. Her hair was down and smooth. Erik was clothed in the clothes that he wore when he normally ventured about the Opera House.

They now stood together, a note in Erik's hand, and another that Amanda had written herself stuck on an arrow. Erik and T.K. had somehow known that she was skilled at Archery, or they'd have given her something different.

Erik nudged her and whispered, "Follow me, and stay hidden." He then walked briskly to the ropes where the scenes were held. "Can I do it?" Amanda asked. At his nod, Amanda quickly unroped the scene, and she watched with satisfaction as it tumbled to the ground, crushing the obnoxious diva.

"Oh God, you have no idea how much I've wanted to do that," Amanda said, pumping her fist in triumph. Erik nodded and asked, "I need to leave. Are you alright on your own? Do you remember the way back?" Amanda said, "Yessers." She gave him a quick hug and waved before backing up a little bit to avoid the cast members' confused looks upward. She loaded her bow and aimed carefully.

Everything went as planned. Mme. Giry got the note, and showed it to the managers. "He welcomes you to his Opera House, and demands that his salary be paid: 20,000 francs." Firmin's eyes widened, but the ballet mistress ignored him and continued, "And it seems that he has…"

Amanda took advantage of the moment. She let the arrow with the note attached to fly, narrowly missing the managers' heads and clattering to a stop at Christine's feet. While she picked up the arrow, showed it to Meg, then gave it to Mme. Giry, Amanda quickly dodged back the way she had came. "…a new apprentice," Mme. Giry mused, removing the arrow from the parchment and opening the envelope. The note read:

_To all of the Opera House,_

_I assume the Opera Ghost has told you what's going on. I am his apprentice, Archer the Huntress. I would like to get a few things straight._

_First of all, you'd better get Carlotta's ass out of the show. She sings worse than Britney Spears _(A/N: No offense to any Britney Spears lovers!) _with a sore throat. Bump Christine in, she has great potential!_

_Moving on: Raoul is just going to cheat you guys out. I have a nagging feeling that he is going to take advantage of the fact that he's a patron. Patrons are not managers! He can be described in two words: Rich bitch. _

_Last of all, don't underestimate the Opera Ghost and I. It would be greatly unpleasant to wake up with one of my arrows stuck in your eye._

_With great sincerity,_

_Archer_

Andre shrugged. "Well, I doubt if a meager chorus girl could sing well, but let's give it a try." Meg pushed her out and whispered quickly, "Go on, Christine."

But there was another message written on the arrow in blood red ink, which was addressed to Meg:

_Don't worry, little Giry. There may be hope for you yet._

Authoress: Sorry if this is short, but my patience was very low today. Thanks for the review, Computerfreak101!


	3. Think of :burp:

Disclaimer: Anything that's already copyrighted isn't mine.

Authoress: Come on, you guys, REVIEW! Tell you what: I'll tone down some of the language and make this a nice, long chapter, alright? If you don't review…:grins and strings up arrow on bow:

Think of-:burp:

"That…was awesome," Amanda said as she flounced into Erik's house, where he was scribbling down a few notes of music on parchment. "Mhm," was his absentminded reply as he examined what he'd just written. Amanda rolled her eyes and asked, "When's the opera starting?" This time, Erik looked up. "Um…around eight," he mumbled, twirling his quill in his hand. Then, he turned back to his organ, leaving Amanda to entertain herself.

She ventured back into the guest room, where the blue timer lay. She realized that there were headphones dangling from the side. A note on the screen flashed: _Put on the headphones._

Hesitantly, Amanda put the headphones in her ears. She recognized TK's voice and grinned.

"Everything should be going smoothly, I hope. Anyway, there's another thing that I can do for you. There's a small flip-out keyboard on this timer. What you can do is punch in anything you'd like, and it will appear on the table across from you." At this, Amanda looked up and noticed a small table in the corner, next to the Lois-Philippe chest of drawers. It was wooden, with a simple design carved about the edges and on the legs. Atop of it sat the familiar monkey music box.

It wasn't until then did she notice that the headphones had disappeared into thin air and the screen had gone blank. Following TK's instructions, she tugged on a small plastic flap under the screen. Underneath it lay a tiny keyboard which it's keys were miraculously big enough so that Amanda could punch in certain letters without accidentally punching in more than one.

She cast a glance toward Erik, who was absorbed in his music. She smirked, and punched in "Orange and Blue funky stereo and CD player". She looked up, and a large but light sound system (with funky colors!) was perched atop the table, with the music box pushed aside. Amanda then typed in "Unedited Green Day 'American Idiot' CD". It appeared atop the left speaker.

Glancing at Erik to make sure he wasn't looking, Amanda slipped the CD into the CD player, toned up the bass and volume, and let Track 1 (Hey-American Idiot!) play.

The song blasted, sending Erik toppling out of his seat. He immediately put a hand behind his head to keep it from whacking the hard stone floor. Sheets of music went flying off the organ, and the pipes vibrated from the heavy bass. (A/N: casts a wary glance toward computer speakers, which are now playing the song) He scrambled up from the floor and stumbled forward, carefully stepping over overturned candelabras and sheets of unfinished music. He winced when the F-word played, and behind the curtain, Amanda flinched, too.

He flung open the curtain to reveal the vibrating speakers, working CD player, spinning CD, empty, carelessly tossed CD case, and Archer madly air-guitaring to Green Day.

"WHAT IN HEAVEN'S NAME ARE YOU DOING, GIRL!" he shouted over the loud noise. Amanda turned to him, slammed the pause button on the CD player, and saluted to Erik, grinning broadly. "Ahoy," she said in a mockly gruff pirate voice. "What ye be doin' here, landlubber?" Erik raised an eyebrow. "Hopefully you haven't been drinking," he said, an edge of worry in his voice. (A/N: Yes, yes, you're all thinking "WTS?" at this saying, but Erik might have been thinking this while I talked like a pirate and played air guitar!) Amanda gaped at him. "Heck no!" she shouted, glaring at him. Erik smirked. "Let's check. What's the difference between a cottonmouth and a water moccasin?"

Amanda shook her head. "There is none."

"Obviously you haven't been drinking. Now, I want you to get ready. Surprisingly, it's almost time to go. Check in the wardrobe. There's some dresses in there." He walked out the room and threw over his shoulder, "If you're going to play music, keep it down."

Amanda scrunched up her eyes at the sound of Christine's singing. They were up in Box Five. Erik was listening and watching intently, playing with the edges of his cloak. Again, he was dressed in his normal attire, but little Archer had decided to wear something different.

Erik had chosen many dresses for her, all of which had fit her. (Erik had later admitted that he had looked at some of her spare shirts and pants to figure out her size.) She had chosen a black dress, which had long sleeves that had sections of it go past her wrist and stop a little way past her waist. The bodice of the dress glimmered with tiny rubies. It was cut low, but it was still decent enough so as not to make either of the opera ghosts uncomfortable. At the waist, it didn't poof out like most dresses did, but instead stayed the same width as the top. It was made of silk, and it trailed out slightly behind her. She had put on lots of eyeliner, mascara, and white face powder so that she would look more ghostly (in case anyone spotted her), and she had put up her hair in a messy bun, with a fluffy black scrunchie to match the dress. Despite this fancy attire, she put on curvy, funky black sneakers so that she could move with ease.

Amanda cast a glance toward Raoul, who was sitting in the box to her right. He noticed her and waved, smiling in a friendly manner. Amanda waved mockingly and quickly swept up the sign she had made. She showed it to Raoul.

_Shut up, foo!_

Raoul furrowed his brows, then shrugged, shook his head, and continued drooling over Christine. Amanda tapped Erik's shoulder and quickly whispered what had happened. "Stupid fop," he muttered, exchanging smirks with Amanda.

Christine got to the part where she sung "of" with rising and falling tempos. Suddenly, at that part, Amanda gave a loud belch that startled the audience out of whatever trance they were in. Erik blanched and pulled Amanda down so that no one would see them. He glared at Amanda for a minute before they heard "me" being screeched- I mean, sung, then they got up. Amanda grudgingly applauded before slinking out of the box in search of Christine's dressing room.

Authoress: I hope you liked the sign part:D Now review! REVIEW FOR YOUR LIVES:shoots arrow at ceiling:


	4. Thanks for nothing

Disclaimer: I flippin' don't own anything! Happy!

Authoress: Hey, back from a wicked fun sleepover! My new favorite movie is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! (the new one!) KID WONKA KICKS ASS:D

Anyhoodles, thankee for the reviews! You guys rock!

Thanks for nothing:

Amanda found Christine's dressing room without any trouble. It was located quite close to where the stage area was, in a small hallway. All the ballet rats giggled and chatted, but very few noticed the black figure gliding down the hall, humming to "Pon de Replay".

She knew that right now Christine was in the gothic little chapel, having her daddy issues or whatever. Of course, Erik had followed her.

Amanda quietly went into the room, and took a look around. "This place looks better than on the screen," she whispered, starting to rummage around. She then found, hidden in a drawer, a diary. However, when she opened it, all there was was Raoul's name written hundreds of times, each in a different handwriting. Amanda decided that since there was nothing else to do, she took some time as to admiring each type of handwriting that caught her eye. _But RAOUL'S_ _name! Ugh,_ her mind twittered, running on full power.

After about fifteen minutes, Erik quietly slipped in via trapdoor. He placed a rose on the vanity, which Amanda didn't notice.

"What's this I see? Amanda, the great and powerful Archer, who is fourteen, has decided to slip down to the ranking of a child and snoop, hmm?"

Amanda started. "Um, no?" she said quickly, blushing a deep shade of red. She scrambled for the drawer handle and carelessly stuffed the small book into the mahogany drawer. "Besides, it wasn't that great. Everything smells like too much perfume."

Erik laughed and said, "Perhaps my eyes have deceived me once more. Anyway, you have to get ready. Christine will be in here any minute." With that, he went back through the trapdoor.

Sure enough, no sooner than the wooden plank had closed, Amanda heard Christine's outside, along with about, say, 2 gazillion or so more people. She slipped around the corner and waited.

Christine entered the room, along with a very frazzled Giry. She handed her the rose, saying how well she did and how pleased "he" was with her. (A/N:rolls eyes: Nicknames, nicknames…) The grin on Christine's face was so huge that the left corner nearly touched her ear. Amanda silently sighed.

After a while, Raoul came in, dressed formally a la fop. _Didn't you see the flippin' sign! Shut up,_ Amanda thought, scribbling a note with a spare pencil on a piece of paper she had found on the ground and sticking it up on the end of an arrow. (She had hidden the holster under her dress.) She aimed and fired above Raoul's head, just before Christine was about to start jabbering about the Angel of Music. "What's this?" Raoul asked, picking up the note. Christine shook her head, and Raoul read the note aloud.

_Please do go away,_

_Christine shall be untouched today.,_

_You haven't been good,_

_But decidedly naughty,_

_So leave before this arrow is up your-_

_Click clack, watch your back!_

Raoul furrowed his brows, and then said, "Whoever wrote this isn't, um…very nice. Supper in two minutes, Lotte." Christine started to protest, but he closed the door on her words. She sighed.

"I know. Doesn't he suck?"

She whirled around to find Amanda, still in her evening clothes. She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Hey there!" She waved her hand in a circle motion, grinning in a mocking way. Christine's already huge eyes widened. "Who are you?" she asked shakily. Amanda rolled her eyes. "Your mom," she said in a Napoleon Dynamite-ish voice. (A/N: Sorry, feeling Napoleon today. Ya dig:P)

"Really?"

"No."

"Seriously, who are you?"

Amanda walked over, and held out her hand. Christine looked up at her fearfully, but reluctantly shook the black gloved hand. "I'm Archer, but you can call me Amanda. Not the Angel of Music," she added, destroying the grin that had appeared on Christine's face, "but close to him." Christine cocked her head and asked, "Then why did you come here?" Amanda shrugged. "Because I wanted to tell you that you were great, you look good in that dress, blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda, all that crap. See you in the morning!" With that, she went around the corner and waited for her cue, leaving a dazzled Christine. She checked the corner, and realized Mme. Giry watching her. She narrowed her eyes and mouthed, "What?", and the ballet mistress shrugged and reluctantly disappeared.

She counted to herself slowly.

"3…2…1…"

"Insolent boy! This slave of fashion…."

Authoress: Sorry, it sucked, and the language went up a bit. Review, please:hands out assorted Wonka bars:

Random person: I GOT THE GOLDEN TICKET!

Me: OMG GIMME!1 :punjabs random person: YAY:D

In other news, I'm thinking I should do CatCF in 15 minutes. You like:P


	5. Jealousy On Tape!

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

A/N: I hate my freakin' pop-up blocker! Lol. Anyway, my birthday is coming up this Friday. A good birthday present would be, like, so many reviews that I don't finish looking through them until next year or so!

Jealousy…On Tape:

Amanda went back to Erik's place as fast as her legs would carry her. She needed to be there before the couple for a bunch of reasons: for one, she had a special project she needed to accomplish if anyone was going to believe that she was actually here at one point in her life.

The labyrinth was so echoey that she could hear them singing, even when they were still in the top hallway. Much to Amanda's relief, Christine was still singing her first part, but she still needed to hussle. Dodging carefully around the musical mess that Erik had made when he fell over out of surprise, she went into her room, and snatched up the timer. "Okay, here goes," she barely breathed (Hey, its echoey!) as she typed in her request: "Red, funky video camera that's easy to work".

It appeared, this time on the bed, but as Amanda reached for it, a hand clasped her shoulder. "Oh shi-" she whispered as she whirled around, expecting to see Erik or Christine, but instead she found TK, an unhappy expression on her face. Lowering her voice, she made a short, but sharp speech.

"Hold on, there's a catch to this. First of all, you need to start whatever it is with Meg. Either that, or go back and fix it up. Second of all, you are required to watch everything that happens. Lastly, in order for you to tape this, I must take something away from you. You won't know until tomorrow." With that, she vanished, but her grip lingered for a few seconds before Amanda was able to move again.

"Whatever. I'll start tomorrow, okay TK?" she announced to the thin air. _Right._ Her voice seemed to fill the whole room and it came from nowhere, but, after all, she's practically God in a separate form, right?

As Amanda started wrapping up her musings, Christine was wrapping up her…um…singing…thing. Quickly grabbing the camera, flipping open the side screen, and hitting on, she crouched in the corner and waited for the right time.

After what seemed like an eternity, Erik flung off his cloak. Quickly, Amanda got into a good position where he couldn't see her (It's hard, but easy, since he's facing Amanda but his eyes are on flippin' Chrissy) and hit "Record".

The first few verses went on pretty well. It was Amanda's favorite song, but she wasn't at home; she couldn't yell frantic curses at Christine or laser-point her, or scream into and beat up a pillow, pretending that it was Christine's face. Instead, she pouted as she expertly followed Erik and Christine, and mused on how weird it was to listen to the song with no music and watch it all from one angle.

_Uh…oh… _she thought as they got dangerously close. They were in front of Erik's organ.

Amanda silently took a deep breath and watched, fury welling up inside her.

After the dreaded verse, she noticed that neither of them were watching her. She mouthed "Biotch!" to Christine and then did the old "read between the lines" trick. (A/N: If you don't know what this is, ask!) Before she knew it, Christine fainted, and Amanda's eyes widened. Taking care to keep the camera on the two, she quickly and quietly scuttled around and out of sight as Erik walked over and placed her on the bed. She stuck out her tongue and lasted the last few seconds. When Erik finally slunk away, Amanda pressed "Stop Recording" and turned the camera off. She grinned evilly. "No one will believe this," she whispered, going over to Christine and running a finger down her cheek.

XXXXX

The next morning, she woke up early and walked over to the mirror in the corner of the room. She gasped when she saw what she saw.

The left side of her face (as opposed to Erik's right) was a mirror image of his deformity. She smiled sadly and touched it, frowning slightly at how strangely soft it was compared to how rough it looked.

_So that's what she meant…._

A/N:  :gasps: OMG! What a turning point! Sorry, but I couldn't leave you hanging! Besides, it would have gotten boring anyway…


	6. Angst! Or is it?

Disclaimer: …What!

A/N: Two good things happened today! One was that we had Archery, but I sucked. Oh, well… The other was that we played Party Quirks in Drama and a friend of mine said, "Amanda should be Willy Wonka!" I shouted, "YES!" so loud that I think that the little kids in the next room heard me! OMG! Anyway, the girl who was the clueless party host figured me out immediately. She asked me what I had been doing lately, and said friend mouthed "Tasting candy", but I thought she said "Making candy"! So I said it, and the host said, "You're Willy Wonka, right?" Lol, my mistake! ;-D

Angst!...or is it:

_This really sucks. Oh well…_

Amanda frowned. She knew Erik would understand, but how would he take it? Laugh in triumph? Cry? Scream "OMG!" and start doing the Oompa-Loompa dance?

With the thoughts buzzing in her head, she stretched, brushed her hair with a spare hairbrush that was in the vanity drawer, dressed in the clothes she wore when she came to his house (now cleaned by her), and tiptoed past the sleeping Christine. The time was five am, according to the blue timer, so she wouldn't be waking up in a while.

Erik was playing his organ, oblivious to Amanda timidly slinking around the closed curtain. She crossed her arms, took a few silent steps forward, and quickly inhaled deeply a few times in and out of her nose. She then started singing.

_Young Phantom,_

_The darkness restores you in life._

_You're going with him,_

_Through the singing, the angst, and the strife._

_It's the red skull on the package,_

_It's the faces in your dreams,_

_It's the thought that makes you weep,_

_But no one can hear your screams._

_Sound will take you places,_

_But never to your mind!_

_When Christine comes crying,_

_It's because her heart is blind._

_But he waits,_

_He smiles,_

_Be sensitive to him not,_

_Denial…_

_But hey, who's on trial?_

At this last lyric, Erik turned around with a confused and amused expression on his face, but it suddenly turned to a look of horror, worry, and more confusion. Amanda kept on singing, walking toward him. With every step her words became more bitter.

_It took a lifespan with no cellmate,_

_To find you there,_

_Erik, why can't I just look behind the mask?_

She finished with a note of bitter sarcasm. Her eyes were cold and fiery at the same time, but her fingers were crossed behind her back.

A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry…it's short. I know. I was feeling dark and evil today. Muhuhaha. For those of you who don't know, the song that I sang was "Evil" by Interpol, but I changed the lyrics. I also came across writer's block, so…I won't be updating again very soon. (OMG, I can hardly type this message!) :-( Sorry!


	7. Time Traveling and Some Bad Comebacks

Disclaimer: All I own is…um….-hears snickers- Shut your mouth! B( I also don't own the song mentioned in the last chapter. Don't sue me!

A/N: I'm back! Lyk, ehmagod! This took me THE REST OF THE SUMMER TO DREAM UP. I'm an official Charlie and the Chocolate Factory obsessor, so my Phantom obsession isn't what it used to be. The story might not hold as much pizzazz; don't say I didn't warn you.

Time-traveling and some bad comebacks:

Erik raised his visible eyebrow as he looked over the teenager standing in front of him. "That was very…interesting, Amanda."

Amanda snorted. "Yeah, I know, I made that up in the 30 seconds that I had before I came out of the room." She stretched. "Anyway, I have the sunburn of doom, so, like, can you…?"

"Make you a mask? Sure. Actually compliment you on your song lyric writing skills? No."

"You suck."

Erik snapped his fingers in defeat. "You can really bite if you want to."

"I saw a shirt that said that once."

She cocked her head. "What the hell is your mask made out of, anyway? Is it leather or plastic or something?" Erik shook his head. "It's porcelain. Drop the mask that I make you, and you perish, because it'll take me 3 hours to make it- or more."

He turned to go, but Amanda grabbed his shoulder and said, "One last thing: keep your temper."

Erik had no idea what she meant.

Marching into the spare bedroom, taking care as to keep Christine asleep and keeping an eye on the time, Amanda grabbed the blue timer, pressing buttons so that she could go back in time a bit and erase what she had written on the arrow. Eventually, she got the coordinates right and went back…

"_I should write a note on the arrow and give Meg some lessons too," Amanda said, picking up a quill and some red ink._

_However, a voice in her ear whispered, "Don't write that. You'll make everything messed up."_

_She whirled around to find an exact copy of herself, only…she had Erik's deformity. "Who are you?" she asked, looking around her shoulder to see if Erik was watching her. _

"_I'm you from tomorrow morning. Anyway, don't give Meg lessons, for our sanity."_

_The future her flashed her retainer, left over from the braces she had gotten during sixth grade._

"_Amanda? Let's go!" Erik called, nodding his head at the direction of the gondola. Amanda smiled and walked over, allowing the Phantom to escort her to her seat._

_As Erik rowed the boat away from his home, the young Phantress looked back._

_Her future self had gone. _

Amanda stumbled back into the present, breathing hard. Time traveling wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing on the planet. When she anxiously looked toward the swan bed to see if Christine had woken at the sound of the crackle, however, she noticed that it was empty.

_She's gone!_ Amanda thought, furrowing her brows in confusion as she stared at the empty bed. _How can that be? T.K. said that the present stays still when you go forwards or backwards! Isn't it the law of time-traveling?_

The timer vibrated. As Amanda glanced at the screen, she saw that it said to put on the earphones.

Still befuddled, she slipped the metal pieces into her ears and was greeted by TK's voice. "Laws can be broken."

A/N: Stupid writer's block is gone. ALL REJOICE!


	8. Saved Your Skin

Disclaimer: "Dot dot dot". Own ZILCH.

A/N: Awright! Got a new story, everyone! You'll get a little shock when you read the note, though.

Saved your Skin

Amanda grimaced as the headphones dissolved into nothingness. _Well, that sure is comforting when going home time comes along,_ she thought, dumping the timer on the wooden table next to her stereo.

Taking care to be sneaky, as with last night, Amanda slunk around so that she was behind a curtain. She crouched, and noticed with a wave of relief that Christine couldn't have left her bed more than 30 seconds ago.

Cocking her head, Amanda's brain whirred. _That means that the law was bent, not broken. If it were broken, it probably would have been a day after I had went back._

She then realized that there was also 30 seconds until Phantom meltdown. "He might have not understood what I meant by 'Keep your temper'!" she mouthed to the air.

Her brain racked itself again, her insides writhing with stress…

…she had it!

Racing over to the timer she had carelessly tossed onto the table, she swept it up, withdrew the keyboard, and quickly typed in "Five wireless speakers". Barely a second after they had appeared (under the table; there wasn't any more room on top), she typed in "Keyboard of separate controls for each speaker".

It appeared, and Amanda typed in the last thing: Blink-182 CD.

Plugging the master stereo control to the CD player, Amanda did a time check while depositing one of the speakers in the bed, propping it up against a pillow.

15 seconds!

Quickly but quietly, she took up the speakers. (they were really light) She then exited through the side, and crept along the ground to what looked like Erik's bedroom. She set the first speaker on a table behind a curtain, hiding it from view.

Creeping along the way she came, she deposited the second speaker on the left side of the beach, keeping it mostly obscured by a cave wall.

Now for the final two: These were hardest. Going through the bedroom, exiting out the main entrance, and inching along the wall, Amanda used all of her skills of sneaking, both her natural ones and the ones Erik had taught her, to place one of the speakers about 10 feet from the bedroom and behind a curtain and the last one a bit behind the organ. (Christine was facing the other direction and Erik had his eyes closed, so…yeah.)

Amanda ran quietly back to her bedroom, ripped out the Green Day CD from the CD player, slammed the Blink-182 CD down, chose Track 11 (Easy Target, this is COPYRIGHTED!)…

5 seconds!

…turned on all five stereos, turned them up, and whacked play on the CD player.

SUCCESS!

Lest than 2 seconds before Christine took his mask off, the drum solo bounced around the room, filling it. Amanda put her fingers on the last 4 power buttons, getting ready.

_Holli's looking dry, looking for an easy target_ (Erik's Room)

_Let her slit my throat, give her ammo if she'll use it _(10 feet from the bedroom)

_Caution on the road lies lies and hidden danger _(On the beach)

_Southern California's breeding _(Organ)

_Mommy's Little Monster! _(In the bedroom)

Amanda grinned as she checked out the expressions on the couple's face. Erik looked like he wanted nothing better than to murder something (or someone. Amanda frowned.) and Christine looked lost, confused, and disappointed. All in all, Amanda knew she was in deep trouble, but at least she was having fun.


	9. Blackout

Disclaimer: Shut the heck up. I own "nil".

A/N: Sorry this took so long….listen, enjoy this chapter, then prepare for a LOOOOONG author's note.

Saved your Skin

Amanda hid behind a curtain and switched off the stereos. She watched as Erik looked over where the sound was coming from-behind his organ.

He discovered a stereo. Then he swooped around to his room…

And found another.

Amanda crouched down and curled up from behind the curtain.

_Crap! I'm in for it now!_

She didn't dare look, but she swore she felt Erik's eyes on the curtain that she was hiding behind. After a painful five minutes he sighed and said to DumbA- I mean, Christine, "We might as well get you home now."

Amanda heard a small _clunk_ as the two got into the boat, then, finally, the swish of rowing water as Erik paddled away.

To be safe, Amanda waited a few minutes before peeking around the corner, checking around, then standing up and stretching.

"Aw, what am I going to do now?" she muttered as she swept up the last couple of stereos hiding about, took the blue timer, and asked aloud whether she could make things go away.

The timer read, "Type in 'Delete'."

Amanda obeyed, and the stereo system was no more.

Suddenly she heard the sound of swishing water coming close. She walked out, sat down on a bench, and hung her head. She prepared for and was expecting the worse.

As soon as Erik docked, he came up off the boat, looked around, and then found Amanda. Just as he was about to say something, he turned statue-still, his eyes grew wide, and he fell over backwards.

Amanda leaned over to stare at him. After a few seconds, everything went black.

She felt herself land on Erik's body before she lost all contact with that world completely.

* * *

A/N: Alright, LISTEN! Listen, listen, listen! I know this ending is weird, but this is why. 

I'll only say this once: RUNNER-UP IS GONE.

This story will be blending into another, bigger, deeper story that will be long and packed with humor, suspense, friendship, and rivalry alike.

As for the rest of my fanfics, they will be getting the same treatment; one character blacking out, then the other. They will also go into the larger story, although at later times.

I am starting in on a Corpse-Bride fanfic, with a humorous character named Cricket. This story will also go on for a while before-BAM! See ya!

Amanda, Holli, and Cricket, along with their matching characters (Erik, Willy Wonka, and, in Cricket's case, Victor) will be dumped into a BIG story. I'm talking chapters in the 40'S!

After that story is finished, the characters will return, and my fanfics will be up again.

Just for good measure, the story will be called "Writer's Block", and will be featured in the Movie Crossovers section in the Misc. Genre. Yes, for anyone who loves all my currently up fanfics, you'll love this!

Don't expect it to be up soon, though! I'll put a note here when everything is ready and the story has begun!

Hopefully I can make the new story a movie…I gotta write a letter…

Anyway, the tagline shall be:

BRING ON DA BLOCK! D


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